The Bracelet Board

Let's face it, I have made a lot of bracelets, I wear them, I sell them, I even give them away as gifts. And for a while I couldn't stop making them. I've been all over Pinterest and Google looking for a way to hang them up for display and easy access. I finally decided on a cork board. I picked up a  17" x 23" one at the craft store about a week ago. I finally got Hubby to hang it up today for me. I picked up a jar of colorful push pins at the office supply store and pinned away hanging as I pinned so i could manage the space well. Then I ran out of space. and I have a LOT more left. I think I will get back to listing them for sale on line (Etsy, probably). Here is a pic of the board all filled up.

Finishing Projects

Back, 2 posts ago, I mentioned Some handmade crocheted cuff bracelets my grandma made me. Well I found the right buttons for the white one.

Even tho I didn't make the cuff, Grandma is a piece of me so I'm going to show it to you...

I think it's very cool!

And while I'm on the "Finishing Projects" topic...

Last time my Mother-in-law was in town we went to a few quilt shops and I found the coolest pattern for a Chili Pepper table runner. Well I decided to use it as a wall hanging. I started making this in early may before my 2nd knee surgery (on the right knee) then when I went for surgery I could use my right knee quite right for a while so I didn't sew for a while. This week I pulled out the pieces n pattern and finished it up! I really only had the green part left to do. It looks awesome on my Terra Cotta Orange kitchen walls...

Granny's Crochet Needle Roll-up

I got this idea from a crayon roll-up pattern I saw online, I tweeked it to be tall enough for crochet needles and the pockets narrower in most cases also. I left a few pockets wider for the larger needles. Grandma loves it!

Rolled up...

Unrolled...

Close up on needle in a pocket and flap turned up...

Crafters X-mas and Inspiration

Going to my grandmas house is always a treat. I love to visit with her, hear her stories, and learn from her. Plus I almost always leave with at least a grocery sack full of goodies! Some of the goodies are hand made sometimes and other times its supplies. This time it was both! Check it out!

^Oodles of old lace!

coz i wanna make these

^ a bunch of tiny ribbon flowers and bows

 I want to incorporate into the above lace flowers

^ thread cones for my surger she gave me a few months back

Here is a pic of the vintage surger. It is a White Superlock 503:

^ a very old cookie tin - i want MORE!

coz i wanna make these, sans the snowflakes and in a color that suits my home.

^ dozens of crocheted flowers 

she makes these with her yarn/thread scraps, not usually with anything in mind to do with them.

I want to make a bouquet with them, like this:

^ tiny ribbon flowers and bows i will probably incorporate with the lace flowers

^ *swoon* vintage thread spools all wooden!

^ rick-rack... i have quite a collection of rick-rack now from a previous thrift store score, i need some rick-rack craft ideas!

^Crocheted butterflies. something else she does with her scraps. 

Maybe I will make a mobile with them?

Perhaps something like this:

And then there rest... there was some googley eyes, red pompoms, sequin pins and steel silk pins.

There are 2 bracelet-cuffs she crocheted me too I need to get pictured of them on the bracelet model.

Check it out!

Rocky Wrist Bracelets

In the bottom of my bead stash, is a floss box with some sorted drilled rocks.

I had to think how to make these into a bracelet with out the bracelet weighing too much!

I recalled some silver plated aluminum beads, and used them to alternate with the drilled rocks.

I think they turned out interesting!

Less Than Creative in My Free Time

This week, when I am normally creating I've been doing other things.

I've seen 2 movies in the past week. I don't usually go to movies... In fast the last one I saw was True Grit in 2010. (Double Take, this is 2012!) But I went with a gal friend to see Magic Mike Friday. Hubba Hubba! Then last night a hubby, a couple other friends and I went to see Ted. Bother movies were good.

Tonight, its July 4th. A day I dont normally do anything on but work, in the past or stay home with the doggies. We are going to a 51's Baseball Game! Something else we don't normally do- in fact I have not been to a game since I was a kid and mom got Angels n Dodgers tickets from work... But My friend who I went to see Magic Mike with said we should go and so we were all easily persuaded. There will even be post game fireworks. Fireworks are something I have grown out of but whatever...

I made a round of Bento boxes, no pics sorry.
Then when I was grocery shopping I got chicken breasts cheap(er) and came home to follow this link and made 6 varieties of marinaded chicken breasts, threw one in the fridge for thursday, and the other 5 in the freezer as recommended.

I was going to get creative a couple days ago but i stepped on something I couldn't see in my studio and decided to clean it up instead. I never got around to making anything in here tho. I did switch placement of my ironing board with my cutting table. Since I keep some bins and plastic drawers under my cutting table, the bins are moved now too and the room feels a little more open.

Friday Doc said I'm ready to go back to work and gave me a week.  So...How on earth can I make a living from my crafting so that I may ALWAYS craft...

Girly Skully Pendant

A long awaited order from an ETSY seller in HONG KONG finally showed up this week.
Why do I keep buying things from places that take months to get to me?
Well this is what I got...

 4 Kuromi (for those uneducated in Sanrio...She is a white rabbit or imp-like creature, wearing a black jester's hat with a pink skull on the front and a black "devil" tail in the place of a normal rabbit's tail.)

 8 strawberries, 10 Cherries, 3 Girly Skulls and 8 Black Hearts

This morning it came to me, a design for a pendant based on one of the Girly Skulls. I used a pink cherry too and some pink Dice I had already with some other charms n beads and this is what happened!  I just love it!

The Etsy seller is Love.vs.Logic. They have some totally cute, worth the wait stuff! I could spend a fortune in that shop!

Bento Style Lunches

You should know 2 things and us, if you don't already. First: We keep a Swing Shift schedule, even on days off. sleeping the afternoons away and up all night and morning. Second: We don't eat when you expect us to because of our schedule. Breakfast is around 8pm...yes PM. Lunch is around 2am...yes AM. and dinner it around 6 or 7 AM.

With that in mind...


For maybe 6 months lunches on work nights were a homemade made ahead salad. Every week I would prepare 10 salads in advance in airtight plastic containers. Dressing in tiny 1 ounce Tupperwares. Salads go to be mentally less than desirable or not enough or both.


I recently mentioned I wanted to eat lunch Bento style. I searched the shops for the perfect bento box that both Hubs and I could agree on. We almost looked at each other like this was a futile hunt. It's not like I wanted a Hello Kitty one, nor was I threatening to get him a Spongebob one. But the choices either seemed too big or too clumsy. He wanted his to git in his messenger bad. I hadn't thought far enough in the future to how I would carry mine once I was no longer on disability from my knee surgeries. 


Later, when we went grocery shopping we stopped to see what was in the semi-disposable/recyclable (GLADWARE) storage containers. And we found shallow 3 compartment lidded "airtight" containers. We bought 2 sets (4 containers), I later bought another set because we tent do do things in 3, plan 3 days of food out at a time.


We both stumbled upon a few website with ideas for things to put in these lunches and how. Thank you Pinterest for the leads!


The 1st 3 days was less than exciting, but interesting. And it has since evolved.
Day one:

(sorry for the sideways view, I need picture editing practice on iphone)

Light string cheese, Half Nutella and Honey Sammy, Seasonal Strawberries, and carrot sticks stuck in some Ranch Dressing/Dip.

I also did, with out photos, BLT wraps in whole wheat tortillas with similar sides; Hand and string cheese rolls with fruit n veggie sides; and a few other plain Jane beginner ideas.

THIS WEEK:

I pulled out all 6 containers, almost everything fromt he fridge and pantry that was lunchbox worthy and splayed it all over my countertop, after looking at more ideas online and having a sleepless night.

I  mostly wanted to raid and use up remnants before they went bad.

Heres what I came up with:

Left:

 Whole grain Tostito scoops, Wholy Salsa, Hard-boiled egg, Colby-Jack cheese slices and some Kiwi wedges. I separated the cheese and egg in foil when I closed the container.

Top Right:

I had 1 last whole grain burger bun floating around the fridge so I utilized it with some sliced natural ham, muenster cheese, mayo n deli mustard vut into 4 wedges, down the center is a pickle spear wrapped in foil, on the side is some cottage cheese and pineapple as well as baby carrots cut in half length-wise and a tiny tub of hummus.

Botton Right:

PB & banana half sammy made with the heel/last piece of whole grain bread, Red grapes, Ham smeared with cream cheese n rolled up, and then some cauliflower drizzled in balsamic vinaigrette.

Left:

Slices up cauliflower, baby carrots, and radishes, Hard Boiled egg, Ham n String Cheese roll-ups, Hummus n feta for the veggies, then some greek honey flavored yogurt topped with a drizzle of honey, sliced banana and granola.

Top Right:

Apple n PB stacks, apple wedges, Lemon Newton Wafers, More sliced veggies n Hummus/feta mixture.

Bottom Right:

DIY Pizza Lunchables! 

Pita Bread wedges, Pizza Sauce, Mozzarella shreds, Sliced ham, also an organic cup of applesauce and a tiny midget tupperware with some cinnamon-sugar for the applesauce.

Cookie Brownie Evilness

I pinned this on Pinterest.
Hubby later mentioned it, twice.
First, he told me there was something evil he wanted but didn't... that he saw on Pinterest. After he explained it I said I already pinned it. We laughed about that. A week or so passed and it got filed in the  back of my mind.
A few days ago I mentioned to him I wanted to make our friend "Eeyore" a birthday cake. Hubby interjected and said I should make the Cookie Brownie Evilness.
One of my eyebrows raised as I questioned his sanity, since he has us on a whole foods, health food lifestyle. But special occasions like dear friends' b'days and fathers day have seemed to be more important that health lately. HA!

So... This morning I was making my normal grocery shopping run which I hate to do anyway, I decided to grab the things I needed to do this. I cheated, I admit. There are no "from scratch" components here.

Trying to avoid as many artificial crap in my food as possible, (like it matters in this evil recipe) I found Pillsbury Simply... Cookie Dough. Chocolate Chip, of course.

I Also found this the perfect time to put the Perfect Brownie Pan to use. The pan had more nooks than the dough had dollops to I divvied it up manually.

Worked out well I think. The 6 side nooks are a bit smaller.

So In the Smaller nooks I put half oreos, but in the other nooks an oreo fits perfectly.

More Healthful efforts: Fudge Brownie Mix that needs no eggs or butter, just yogurt.

Perfect! Sounds easier too!

We keep this yogurt in the fridge constantly for smoothies. It's the Honey Flavor. and Greek Yogurt is suposed to be more healthful also.

Ok, so then I dolloped brownie batter over every nook. Then put 2 lil chocolate chips on top of each one to be 'cute' :)

OK, looks good all baked up, well from here it looks like brownies, but hey thats good right?!

One perfectly extracted Brownie, 1 of few!

1 perished. I saved it from it's humiliation by eating it immediately...

This is also a product review on the Goddamned "Perfect Brownie Pan" I had a horrendous tine 'extracting' these from the pan. For something thats suposed to be non-stick... thats bull-shit! I may have to Good Will this pan after this experiment and cut my brownies the old fashioned way.

I hid the not as pretty ones under the prettier ones.

see how there are 17, not 18 pieces.

Oh, see the corner one, you can see Oreo Cream!

I am a terribly messy chef, cook, baker.

Ricky is a wonderfully helpful cleaning crew of one.

See here, he's mopping up all of the crumbs n crap that fell on the floor.

I wish he would stand up and do the dishes for me now.

Red Bow Earrings

I spied these lil red bow beads in an Etsy store not too long ago. I only got 2, I wish I had more, because now that I made a pair of adorable earrings out of them I want to keep them but I also want to share them!

Measured Wrist - A Bracelet

First let me start by saying I broke the retractor in my cloth tape measure measuring something that was clearly longer than the tape. I tossed the tape in the trash, knowing I had a couple more around here.

Then a day or so later I saw a Pin of a bracelet made of a length of measuring tape. I repinned it, of course. This morning I pulled up the pin and dug out the tape measure from my trash bin.

Then I fished thru my jewelry making supplies and discovered I had everything I needed!

I began making the bracelet accordingly and decided in the end to ad my own touch. Charms! I happen to have tiny working scissors, thimbles, and thread spool charms. I also added a crystal heart charm for fun. These are simply adorable!

Luckily I had just the right size ribbon clamp doohickies to fit the tape measure width.

Scrabble Pendants, Revisited

Here are the pendants from batch #3 after getting my order for 20 bails from an Etsy seller in the mail.

Elephant, Frog, Heart

Bee, Bunny, Peacock

Chinese Happiness Symbol, Angel, Seashell

Another Peacock, Purple Flower (with rhinestone center), Peace Symbol

Sea Turtle, Owl, Beetle

Surfboards with rhinestone, Ginko Leaf, Green Vine with Rhinestone

Human Skull, Alien Head

Blue Flowers, Pair of Cats

These are so fun, and now I am prepared to give anyone a gift when an occasion comes up!

Cooking: Tacos & Homemade Taco Seasoning

Thanks to Pinterest, I am setting out once a week to make my own mixes and get it in a well labeled canister.
This week I am starting with Taco Seasoning. Then I am going to use it in home make tacos for diner one day this week.

Make your own taco seasoning, no MSG or additives!
Equal Parts:
chili powder
ground cumin
garlic powder
onion flakes
1/2 part red pepper flakes
1/8 part sea salt

Just dump it all in your fancy schmancy canister and shake until well blended. I plan to use jumbo mason jars!

Don't forget to bake the canister! This site has some wonderful printable labels, just get some label paper and print away!

Southern Strawberry Sheetcake

I figured I would make a cake for Hubby for Father's Day.
I've been drooling over a recipe I pinned on Pinterest.
I know, I know it is totally against the diet,
but ...
I used wheat flour instead of white, coconut oil instead of canola, turbinado sugar instead of white, cage-free eggs, and almond milk instead of cow's.

It looks delish!

I won't even make him wait until Sunday, he can have some today!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In the meantime, the mailman brought me some crafty supplies I'll have more scrabble pendants up soon and some other goodies!

Pom-Pom Dandelions

I love the way these turned out! I used mixes of 1-yard pieces of different textures and styles of yarns to make pom-poms. Glued them to short dowel rod scraps that i had wrapped in various green ribbon and fabric. I filled a mason jar with dried peas and stick my dandelions in like a flower arrangement.

I have a serious collection of 1-yard pieces of 'fibers' (the yards used here) in every color and have been looking for things to do with them, I originally used them to embellish greeting cards and scrapbooks but that is all behind me.

I got this idea from a Pinterest PIN also!